Sledgehammer (song)

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Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Sledgehammer
  DE 7th 05/26/1986 (21 weeks)
  AT 2 07/01/1986 (16 weeks)
  CH 4th 06/22/1986 (16 weeks)
  UK 4th 04/26/1986 (18 weeks)
  US 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 07/26/1986 (21 weeks)

Sledgehammer is a 1986 song by Peter Gabriel , written by him and produced by Daniel Lanois . It appeared on the album So .

history

Sledgehammer is influenced by the soul songs from Stax Records from the 1960s . The horn sections were played by The Memphis Horns , the intro was modeled on John Coltrane's Chronic Blues and the flute solo comes from an E-mu Emulator II synthesizer.

The text represents a mosaic of sexual allusions, so the means of transport appearing in the text : steam train , bumper car and big dipper ( roller coaster ) for the male member and for the female sexual organ : fruit bread and pollination . So also the title Sledgehammer (German: sledge hammer ).

The song was released as a single worldwide on April 25, 1986 and became a number one hit in the United States and Canada . Gabriel was also nominated for the song at the 1987 Grammy Awards in the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance category, but lost to Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love .

Music video

The music video was directed by Stephen R. Johnson. The animations come from Aardman Animations , the animation style used modeling clay animation and stop-motion effects with the collaboration of Richard Goleszowski . In the plot of the video, Peter Gabriel is in an animated world, the animations illustrate the meaning of the song. Among the animations you can also see bumper cars, a train and some background singers. At the MTV Video Music Awards in 1987 , the video won nine prizes, setting an unbroken record to this day.

Cover versions

swell

  1. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  2. ↑ Famous Sounds. Retrieved January 8, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Music video on Youtube.com

Web links